Modern commercial and residential irrigation systems typically comprise an electronic irrigation controller that turns a plurality of solenoid actuated valves ON and OFF in accordance with a stored watering program. The valves deliver water through subterranean PVC pipes to a plurality of sprinklers which are typically spray or rotor-type sprinklers, although some systems use rotary sprinklers or drip applicators. The optimum performance of sprinklers in terms of delivering a desired quantity of water, e.g. measured in gallons per minute, uniformly over a desired area of coverage is dependent upon the system operating at a known water pressure. Excessive water pressure can damage sprinklers and other system components or subject them to undue wear.
Water supplied by municipal water companies or wells can have excessive pressure and/or pressure that varies throughout the day. Therefore, it has been conventional to employ pressure regulators in commercial and residential irrigation systems. The pressure regulators can be installed up stream of the valves or down stream of the valves. Sometimes pressure regulators are incorporated into the sprinklers themselves. Pressure regulators used in commercial and residential irrigation systems sometimes establish a predetermined fixed water pressure in the system. Other times the pressure regulators used in commercial and residential irrigation systems are adjustable so that the desired water pressure in the system can be set by the installer to optimize the performance of the sprinklers.
In commercial and residential irrigation systems it is sometimes desirable, from the standpoint of compactness, ease of installation, and simplicity of repair, to couple a pressure regulator directly to a solenoid actuated diaphragm valve. For a number of years, Hunter Industries, Inc., the assignee of the subject application, has sold its Accu-Set™ pressure regulator that couples to the top bonnet of its ICV™ or PGV™ diaphragm valves next to the solenoid and allows the installer to select a system pressure between twenty PSI and one hundred PSI that will be accurately maintained despite wide fluctuations in the incoming water pressure. While the Accu-Set pressure regulator has been a commercial success, it cannot be easily retrofitted to a wide variety of solenoid actuated diaphragm valves.